(Trinidad Express) In the space of five hours between Wednesday night and early yesterday morning, four more murders were recorded.
The murder toll therefore now stands at 280 for 2012.
The killings took place between the hours of 10 p.m. on Wednesday and 3 a.m. yesterday in Laventille, La Horquetta and Chaguanas.
Police have since identified the dead men as Kerron Atwell, 33; Daniel Budree, 18; Akeil Reveillac, 25; and Juanza Jones, 30.
In the first incident, police said around 10 p.m. Atwell, of George Street, St Madeleine; and Budree, of Tarrodale; were found with multiple gunshot wounds in a car at Tobago Road, Enterprise.
Investigators said they had received information that a volley of loud explosions was heard in the area. Upon responding to the report, they discovered the men dead in a white Nissan B-14 Sentra car.
Sources said Atwell, a father of three, was at home with his two-month-old baby and other members of his family when he received a phone call to carry out a job.
The source said three people were initially in the vehicle before the shooting occurred but the third man managed to escape into some nearby bushes when the gunmen opened fire.
Around 2 a.m., Reveillac, a bartender employed onboard the Treasure Queen boat, was shot dead at point-blank range to the face and other parts of his body while being robbed of his gold chain.
Reveillac, who lived at Bayleaf Avenue, Santa Rosa, reportedly went to Slinger Francisco Boulevard, La Horquetta, to visit a relative but was killed while leaving.
Speaking to the Express yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre, Federation Park, Reveillac’s mother, Donmarie Rose, said her son was well-loved. She said since his death, she has received numerous phone calls from friends and relatives extending their condolences.
“He had just finished working after coming back from one of the cruises and decided to go and visit his godson. I don’t know what to say. He was never in any trouble with anyone. If it was his chain they wanted, they could have just taken it. They did not have to kill him. All his money and little cheap cellphone they went with also,” she said.
Also speaking to reporters at the Forensic Science Centre was Jones’s relatives. His brother, Ako, said Jones was returning home from a party in the area, not far from where he lived at Church Street, Laventille, when he was shot dead.
The incident was said to have taken place shortly before 3 a.m. Jones’s mother, Anitha Job-Jones, said her son was never involved in any illegal activities.
“His alias was ‘Smokey’ because he liked to smoke. Every time you see him is because he was smoking a cigarette. He never sold drugs, he was not involved in any of this gun thing so I can tell you for sure that it is not no gang thing that caused this. If my child was involved in anything illegal I would have told you so because that is how I am, but he was not,” she said.
